Prior to commercialization digital storage of recorded music, the preferred medium of recorded music was the 33⅓ RPM vinyl record. Due to perceived sound quality, ease of use, and portability, digitally stored music, at first in the form compact discs and later in digital files that can be played on various devices substantially replaced vinyl records as the dominant music media, leaving many with record collections seldom, if ever, used. In many cases, these collections have been kept for sentimentality, perceived investment, or artistic value of the album cover art.
Vinyl records are currently enjoying a renaissance of sorts. With the growth in popularity of music downloaded from the internet directly to personal music devices, compact discs are falling from favor. At the same time, sales of vinyl records have been growing, both from new recordings by current musical artists and re-pressings of older music. This growth is primarily fueled by a younger generation of music listeners who have discovered the vinyl medium and believe it to be a superior medium to digital downloads for home listening and have the convenience of the digital downloads, which are often included with the purchase of the vinyl record album.
Additionally, many album covers also have artistic value not available with a digital download. Recording artists design their covers with great care, both as a means to communicate the content of their music and to generate “shelf” appeal to generate sales. Such album covers also often included lyrics and other information. It is likely that many record albums have been purchased not only for the musical content but also for the art of the album cover. In addition, music collectors may have a desire to display their collection as art. Accordingly, there is a demand for methods of displaying album collections. Likewise other collectors of other types of objects, such as comic books, photographs, comic books, baseball cards, and the like may similarly want to display their collection on a wall.
A number of display or storage devices for albums have been proposed. In some cases, such displays have provided for encasement of an album cover, e.g., behind glass in a picture-frame like display. However, such displays do not readily permit removal of the album covers or albums for playing and use in the manner for which they were designed. Other display devices accommodate album covers individually and require considerable effort to create a mosaic-like display of multiple album covers and at considerable expense.